Six steps brought Max Johnson and his father to tears.
Georgia SouthernFive surgeries and four schools later, the former LSU quarterback has won Georgia Southern's starting job entering a seventh season made possible by a COVID waiver and two medical redshirts Ryan Wilson discusses notable 2026 quarterbacks with first-round potential on CBS Sports HQ. It was the fall of 2024, and this was his new routine.
, and make him sit in team meetings while he sat in the car, waiting to help his injured son into the car after the meetings ended. Six or seven weeks earlier, Max Johnson's right femur had snapped in two on a field in Minneapolis.
The Johnsons spent nearly two weeks in a hospital. Doctors were not certain the leg could be saved after complications in surgery.
Football was the furthest thing on their minds. It was Max, waking his father so he could go home, but something was different.
KEY POINTS
- Six steps brought Max Johnson and his father to tears.
- Two years later, he's a starting quarterback again.
- The 25-year-old enters what will likely be his final season, his seventh year playing college football .
- The Eagles are the fourth program to award him the starting job, but he hasn't played a full season since 2021, his second year at LSU .